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The governor"s task force on state-imposed mandates succeededin getting 15 regulations struck this year. And almost 50 new ones were handed down. "So we got rid of 15 and we got 50," laughed CityManager Kimball Payne, a task force member. "… Ican"t wait for our next meeting." Speaking at the annual dinner of the League of Women Voters ofLynchburg, Payne said the task force was told early on not to pushfor reforms that cost the state money. It ended up "chasingthe little things," he said. "I think we"re missing the point and that is somethingI"m going to say at our meeting," said Payne, anoutspoken critic of unfunded mandates. "… If wecan"t make some fundamental changes and shift these costsaway from localities and back to the state, then nothing is goingto change." The local burden of covering the tab for state mandates is onlygrowing — directly contributing to the higher tax rates manyare seeing, Payne said. "You could argue, for all practical purposes, any taxincreases implemented by local governments this year can be blamedon the state," he said. "They hate hearing that. But wedidn"t rob the Virginia Retirement System. We didn"tshift these costs." The governor"s task force on state-imposed mandates wascommissioned last year in a General Assembly bill sponsored by Sen.Steve Newman. The group"s aim is to reduce the regulatory burden on localgovernments. Payne was one of five appointees. In the run up to this year"s General Assembly session, thetask force reviewed more than 200 mandates and recommended 61 forelimination. Gov. Bob McDonnell got onboard with 20 and 15 wereultimately rescinded. The deleted mandates mostly dealt with minor reporting requirementsand procedural rules. The task force will keep working until 2014. Payne said he"sgrateful for the attention the state is giving the issue and feltthey were making some inroads. "Getting 15 mandates repealed in one swoop is certainlysignificant," he said, noting few were rescinded before. Payne hopes to tackle meatier issues in the future and start adialogue about the relationship between local and state government. "Every local government inVirginiais a tool of the state inmany ways," he said. "The problem is the stateisn"t treating its tools very well." In addition to the mandates task force, he spoke about the state ofthe Greater Lynchburg Transit Company, dodged a question about theselection of the next mayor and lamented today"s disengagedelectorate. Getting the public involved in government issues is increasinglydifficult, Payne said, as many don"t understand howgovernment operates. "I think the challenge we"ve got right now is reallyunprecedented," he said. "I don"t know when theystopped teaching civics." Payne gave an overview of recent GLTC developments, including CityCouncil"s approval of $506,496 in deficit aid and the ongoingtalks about new management. GLTC took its "eye off the ball a little bit" in thefinancial arena, he said, but folks should remember it was anational award-winning transit system just three years ago. "I don"t think anything has fundamentally changed sincethen," he said. "… That just shows you howfickle all this can be. You can succeed like crazy for a number ofyears, but if you stumble in a public sector, the verdict is in andit"s too late." One audience member asked Payne who he thought Lynchburg"snext mayor would be when council gathers to make that appointmentin July. "I forgot the question," Payne joked, causing the roomto erupt with laughter. The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization dedicatedto promoting voter education and participation. "In this day when I think civics education is increasinglylacking, I applaud you for creating a more educatedelectorate," he said. I am an expert from laser-iplmachines.com, while we provides the quality product, such as RF Beauty Machine Manufacturer , Diode Laser Hair Removal, Ultrasonic Cavitation Slimming Machine,and more.
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